Former Pottstown woman admits to endangering child

COURTHOUSE — A former Pottstown woman, who borough police alleged assaulted her 2-year-old child, potentially faces jail time after admitting to a child endangerment charge.

Briana Marie Brown, 22, formerly of the 400 block of Chestnut Street, most recently of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Friday to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child in connection with an April 2012 incident in Pottstown.

Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Brown. The judge also ordered Brown to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation as part of the presentencing process.

Brown, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a potential maximum sentence of 2˝ to 5 years in prison on the charge.

An investigation of Brown began about 11:30 a.m. April 11 when police on routine patrol on West King Street, between North Washington and North Franklin streets, observed Brown “throw a small child” onto steps of a building located on the northwest corner, according to the arrest affidavit.

“I then observed the female hold down the child and begin to strike her multiple times (five to six times) on the chest and stomach,” Pottstown Police Sgt. Thomas McCloy alleged in the arrest affidavit.

When police confronted Brown about her conduct, she identified the child as her 2-year-old daughter and allegedly stated, “I only popped her in the leg 2 or 3 times because she was acting up…,” according to the arrest affidavit. Police advised Brown that her conduct was not discipline but assault. Police then examined the little girl.

“I looked under her shirt and observed obvious redness and bruising on her chest,” McCloy alleged, adding a further examination also revealed an area of redness and bruising along the child’s right hip. “I also observed some bruising and scrapes on her knees.”

By pleading guilty to the charge, Brown admitted that she knowingly violated a duty of care, protection and support for the child.